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Facebook's metaverse plans labelled as 'dystopian' and 'a bad idea'

27 points by jlpcsl 5y ago

mensetmanusman 5y ago
I have never heard a plan that didn’t have some detractors. I would rather Facebook be building something than not, just to see if the plan actually is a bad idea, because at some point in the future we all expect something like a metaverse to exist in some form. Every dollar spent on this is not spent on targeted ads.
- LurkingPenguin 5y ago
  > Every dollar spent on this is not spent on targeted ads. If Facebook is successful, this will be a new vehicle through which to deliver targeted ads.
  - jobigoud 5y ago
    The metaverse promised by sci-fi is one where each user sees a customised version of the virtual world. In VR chat for example there are options to alter the way the avatars of other user look to disable animations or ignore promiscuous trolls. If this is the kind of virtual worlds we get we should have ad blockers. I hope that if the client is too rigid in what kind of customisation it allows it won't really be successful.
pydry 5y ago
Metaverse is really shaping up to be the next google glass: * An "out there" idea that the boss of bigtech is betting big on because hes enamored of how cool it is. * Which normal people dont even seem to want all that much. * Followed by a moral panic that will likely end up seeming rather silly in hindsight.
0des 5y ago
What we are being sold as 'metaverse' is not metaverse, let's start the conversation there. Even without Facebook being part of this, we're already starting off on the wrong foot. Everything that I've seen promoting 'metaverse' is indistinguishable for everything I've seen promoting VR. - Is it VR ... but with ads? We have that. - Is it VR ... but with personal avatars in simulated space? We have that. - Is it VR ... but in a space funded by a company that 'wont cancel this experiment when the clicks die down?' We have that. None of this is attractive aside from those who already embrace VR. Out of those, you have a myriad of disparate hardware that for the most part isn't-quite-there-yet. Surely someone will jump in and tell me that their Virtuo X3 works perfectly with their AMD Nitro Quantum 32gb, but that's not common, it's not approachable lingo, and it doesn't have a crowd of people who also share the same experience waiting for you when you join. Unfortunately we will never see a true metaverse the way Hiro Protagonist saw it, and when we do it will be lenses that pipe sales ads into our eyes and track retinal stats to enrich our spam as we walk through IKEA. The 'metaverse' being peddled at us, in its current form, is a farce.
okareaman 5y ago
I bought a Oculus Quest headset 1.5 years ago because I wanted to support the technology. I tried it out, put it away and haven't turned it on for over a year. George Hotz echos my experience when he joke the average number of times people use their VR headset is 1. I expected much more, then it turned out to be a game machine you wear on your head. Nothing wrong with that, but I'm not a gamer. I'm still trying to understand what I expected or what would the killer app for me would be. comma ai | George Hotz Announcing COMMA THREE at COMMA_CON (18min 42 sec) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jJn2OzOLIzo&t=1122s https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jJn2OzOLIzo&t=1122s
musicale 5y ago
Sounds on-brand actually.
deleted 5y ago
[deleted]
voakbasda 5y ago
I look forward to seeing this plan wasting billions of dollars that could have been spent on better endeavors. Let them waste their resources chasing a windmill. Stay out of the way of people trying to do meaningful work.

27 points by jlpcsl 5y ago

I have never heard a plan that didn’t have some detractors. I would rather Facebook be building something than not, just to see if the plan actually is a bad idea, because at some point in the future we all expect something like a metaverse to exist in some form. Every dollar spent on this is not spent on targeted ads.

LurkingPenguin 5y ago
> Every dollar spent on this is not spent on targeted ads. If Facebook is successful, this will be a new vehicle through which to deliver targeted ads.
- jobigoud 5y ago
  The metaverse promised by sci-fi is one where each user sees a customised version of the virtual world. In VR chat for example there are options to alter the way the avatars of other user look to disable animations or ignore promiscuous trolls. If this is the kind of virtual worlds we get we should have ad blockers. I hope that if the client is too rigid in what kind of customisation it allows it won't really be successful.

pydry 5y ago

Metaverse is really shaping up to be the next google glass: * An "out there" idea that the boss of bigtech is betting big on because hes enamored of how cool it is. * Which normal people dont even seem to want all that much. * Followed by a moral panic that will likely end up seeming rather silly in hindsight.

0des 5y ago

What we are being sold as 'metaverse' is not metaverse, let's start the conversation there. Even without Facebook being part of this, we're already starting off on the wrong foot. Everything that I've seen promoting 'metaverse' is indistinguishable for everything I've seen promoting VR. - Is it VR ... but with ads? We have that. - Is it VR ... but with personal avatars in simulated space? We have that. - Is it VR ... but in a space funded by a company that 'wont cancel this experiment when the clicks die down?' We have that. None of this is attractive aside from those who already embrace VR. Out of those, you have a myriad of disparate hardware that for the most part isn't-quite-there-yet. Surely someone will jump in and tell me that their Virtuo X3 works perfectly with their AMD Nitro Quantum 32gb, but that's not common, it's not approachable lingo, and it doesn't have a crowd of people who also share the same experience waiting for you when you join. Unfortunately we will never see a true metaverse the way Hiro Protagonist saw it, and when we do it will be lenses that pipe sales ads into our eyes and track retinal stats to enrich our spam as we walk through IKEA. The 'metaverse' being peddled at us, in its current form, is a farce.

okareaman 5y ago

I bought a Oculus Quest headset 1.5 years ago because I wanted to support the technology. I tried it out, put it away and haven't turned it on for over a year. George Hotz echos my experience when he joke the average number of times people use their VR headset is 1. I expected much more, then it turned out to be a game machine you wear on your head. Nothing wrong with that, but I'm not a gamer. I'm still trying to understand what I expected or what would the killer app for me would be. comma ai | George Hotz Announcing COMMA THREE at COMMA_CON (18min 42 sec) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jJn2OzOLIzo&t=1122s https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jJn2OzOLIzo&t=1122s

musicale 5y ago

Sounds on-brand actually.

deleted 5y ago

[deleted]

voakbasda 5y ago

I look forward to seeing this plan wasting billions of dollars that could have been spent on better endeavors. Let them waste their resources chasing a windmill. Stay out of the way of people trying to do meaningful work.